The Tasks of a Forerunner
by Spirit o' Fire
Summary: The Parasite abounds, and there are no options left. The Halos need to be made, but their creation will come at what cost?
1. Prologue

Well, our final dream had been realized. The Construction was done. It had taken 14 long cycles, but it finally had ended. That scourge would finally be locked away for all eternity. I stood next to Jar'tol, and he looked back at me.

"Are you ready, Flin'tor?" he said in a calm voice. From the radio pike behind us, we could hear the COM chatter of the various warriors holding position outside of the Ark.

"Sir! We can't hold the parasite for much longer! They have overrun the shields and have consumed our first lance! We can't…cover that side Hark'tol, look o… et it off me! Get it o…warriors fall back to the auxiliary defensive zone…Activated any second!" The signal went dead.

I knew that the Flood were very fast in conquering our meager defense, and would be upon us any second.

"Yes. I am."

"Then hand me the Index, please." I was amazed. Even with the slaughter raging one hundred ticks away, he still remained perfectly calm in his disposition. "Forty-Nine Distal Bit, the Holo-corder please. I will address our people now."

"Absolutely, Sir. Inform me whenever you are ready." Said the grey, floating Drone. He was Monitor of the Ark, and would be if it ever needed be activated again.

"Please start now." He paused slightly. "My fellow Forerunners, we face a stubborn enemy. He decimates our strongest defenses with relative ease. He consumes and consumes without appetite. He kills without remorse. He is the Parasite. We have, however found a way to stop him. Our brightest minds have been stowed away safely under our shields. It is now time to activate our creations. I bid all who are watching the best of luck in the other plane." The Holo-corder bleeped, saying that the message had been successfully sent. Jar'tol turned back towards me.

"It is time." I nodded nervously in agreement and watched as he pushed the large glowing button on the projected panel. The generators whined, the lights dimmed, and a narrow purple beam shot into the hole in the ceiling and hit each of the seven fins that activated the rings. I stood in awe at the sheer beauty of our final revenge. I saw Jar'tol close his eyes and look upwards. I did the same, and thought to myself,

"So. This is how we win."


	2. Chapter 1: A Brand New Day

The Tasks of a Forerunner Chapter 1

I am Flin'Tor. Or, at least, what remains of him. I was the head architect of the Forerunners' ultimate weapons. My story is one of grave decisions, and desperate times. I believe it went a little something like this……

I woke up on the starship Kol'Taree, the flagship of our fleet, named after the General who first discovered the Parasite and led a brutal campaign against the creature. It was a space spire fourteen ranks in length, and the largest starship made by our finest technicians. It was one hundred and seventeen years ago that day that our colonists had discovered on a small, swampy, and barren world the Parasite that would cause us so much grief.

I got dressed in my Head-Architect's Combat Skin, a form fitting suit with gravity amplifying plates. Architects were extremely valuable in our culture, and the gravity panels would allow me to refract any oncoming enemy fire so that I would remain unscathed. The suit itself had several adornments on it, such as protruding plates on the shoulders and built in gauntlets that housed a variety of tools. My Arc Caster was strapped to my back, just in case.

I made my way to the bridge, moving past the various chatter of the Cafetorium, and towards the bridge. My subordinates would flash our salute-a hand gesture where the person's left hand was raised and brought back down-as I passed them and then brief me on what the day held: Repairs on Wings 5, 16, and 32; New ideas for ship design, slip-space generator modification, etc.

I was almost to the bridge when my superior stopped me: a councilor, Kal'Eem, who worked for Jar'Tol, and was as sneaky and devilish as the Parasite itself.

"Well hello, Flin'tor. How are you doing today?" His smile alone made me want to remove the Caster from my back and burn a hole into his head.

"Oh. Hello, Kal'Eem. What brings you into my business today?" I replied.

"Well, seeing how you seem to be in a rush to get to the bridge, I thought that I'd just stop you and see what you were doing." He paused. "What are you doing?"

I thought for a moment and decided that this would be the perfect time to fool this fool.

"Well," I said as innocently as I could, "I heard that Jar'Tol is disposing of one of his less trustworthy councilors and was planning on moving me into his place." I said calmly with a small smirk.

His face lost all color. "What?" he said pathetically. "Who is it?" he pleaded.

"Oh, I don't know. Why don't you go get him on the COM and ask him yourself?" I half-laughed when I said it, but Kal'Eem was too upset to notice. He hurried away; his boots making heavy tinks on the metal beneath our feet.

"_DISPOSE_? Of me? But how? But why?" He muttered to himself as he walked away nervously.

I laughed. At least today wouldn't be totally disappointing.

I finally entered the bridge, and what a sight it was. Illuminescent panels were all over, pilots ran the ship silently and smoothly, and there standing in the center of the room was Captain Jen'Zeal, making sure that nothing went wrong. The sight of our success was almost overwhelming, and installed a great sense of pride in me.

I walked up to Captain Zen'Zeal. Even looking at him he seemed intimidating. He was taller than most, about 8 clicks tall, and always had a look on his face that he was concocting some kind of ingenious plan to deal with the Parasite.

"Hello, Zen'Zeal. How are you today?" I saluted.

"Oh, Flin'Tor. Well, enough, I suppose. We have been given our heading by Jar'Tol, and we are heading for Aldonia, a small swampy planet with a very dense gravity. A planet as harsh as that could only be home to a creature as vile as the Parasite. Our fleet has already formed a defensive cluster over the surface. They have been bombarding the surface for several cycles. We will venture there, and will finish what the fleet started." He said.

"Hmm. Interesting. I wonder if I could-"

"Oh, no, Flin'Tor. You won't be coming with us."

"What?" I said with meager surprise. I knew that the Council wouldn't let me fall into danger like that, despite my want to see and fight the Parasite up close.

"Yes, you have been given a new assignment. A high priority assignment. As a matter of fact, here comes your escort." He motioned outside the main view screen.

A small, sleek ship came out of slip space. It was about the size of a vehicle transport ship. The only glow that came from it was its light-blue engines. It looked positively alien, since any normal ship had several luminescent panels covering its hull. It was obviously a CoPE ship; they were the most secretive organization in our Imperial fleet. They CoPE only came for missions of utmost importance that had to do with an extreme step in the defeat of the Parasite.

"I wish you would finally realize your dream of, ehrm, 'meeting' the Parasite, but, alas, the Council has spoken." He said reluctantly.

My mind raced at the number of possibilities of why they were here. A new assignment? A way to get rid of the Parasite? A promotion? There were several options, and my mind was exploring all possibilities. I thought that maybe they would finally give me a chance to meet the Parasite face to-

"Flin'Tor!" Zen'Zeal yelled. His voice snapped me back into reality. "You'd best be going. CoPE pilots are notoriously impatient."

"Right, right. I am off, then. Be seeing you my friend." I saluted.

"And to you also. May luck be with you." He replied.

I stepped onto the CoPE ship and refrained for yelling for joy. I was excited. I knew that this new job would take me away from my desk job onboard the Kol'Taree and finally put me in the field.

I stepped into the CoPE office smiling. They, unfortunately, did not return the gesture. Their faces were solemn and serious, as if something terrible had happened.

"Head Architect Flin'Tor, welcome aboard." Said the person in front of me. "Please, take a seat." He motioned to a chair behind me.

I did so, but wondered what had happened. Suddenly, I felt uneasy towards the nature of my new assignment.

"Architect, I'll get straight to the facts. Our war with the Parasite is not going…as well as planned. We need your help in order to…facilitate our victory. Now, if you don't want to help us-"

"Oh, no, sir, I do! Most certainly!" I interrupted enthusiastically. My behavior probably made them think that I was some kind of rookie.

However, his hesitance concerned me. Hesitance in our culture usually meant deception of some sort, or other means of foul play. But, not wanting to miss this chance of a lifetime, I did not point out my concern.

"Oh! Uh, yes sir." I regained my composure. "I would be honored to help you out. But, what is it exactly you need me to build?" I said with a strange mix of enthusiasm and suspicion.

"Well," he began, "We would like to call it, 'The Ark'…"


End file.
